Jeanette Giancaspro is a consumer reader of Scrapbook Update. She joins us a guest blogger today to share her perspective on what is really important to her as a consumer. You can learn more about her by visiting her blog It’s My Crafty Life.
When I was a little girl, my grandmother owned a yarn store. It wasn’t just any yarn store. It was “Connie’s Yarn Shop,” and her customers came from miles around to spend the day (and often the evening) knitting and crocheting, and making all sorts of wonderful creations. The reason for my grandmother’s success wasn’t just her wide selection of goods and services. She also gave her customers outstanding customer service. As soon as they walked into her store, they felt valued, appreciated, and welcome. That is one of the keys to operating a successful business.
Unfortunately, this is the exception rather than the norm these days. Here’s a scenario with which I’m sure many of you can relate: I go into a large craft store looking for a particular item. I look on the shelf where I expect it to be, but it’s not there. I look around for a sales associate to help me, but there is no one around. I search the store and find someone who appears to be annoyed even before I ask her a question. After I inquire about the product, she looks at me as if I’m crazy and says something like, “I’ve never heard of that,” or “If it isn’t on the shelf, we don’t have it.” I look somewhere else and find it. After waiting in line for about 20 minutes, and trying to use a valid coupon that the cashier refuses to accept, I leave frustrated and angry.
I don’t think this is the way most retail store owners want us to leave their stores. I believe that everyone who owns a store truly wants his/her customers to be happy. The problem lies in employee training and supervision. Sales associates, cashiers, and stock personnel must be pleasant, helpful, and knowledgeable. No one can be expected to know everything, but a pleasant and helpful attitude goes a long way in customer service.
As a consumer, I feel from my experience that retail store owners need to pay more attention to training and supervising their employees so that their stores can compete in these difficult economic times. They must hold their employees to higher standards and train them more effectively in customer relations. They should also monitor employees to ensure that customers are leaving their stores on a positive note. Can every store be a Connie’s Yarn Shop? Of course not. Can every store make me feel valued, appreciated, and welcome? Absolutely!
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About JeannetteMG
Unfortunately it’s not just craft stores I leave feeling like this. Supermarkets where the cashiers talk to each other over your head when they are serving me really winds me up. But when I DO recieve good customer service I make sure I return to that store again and again.
I find it increasingly frustrating shopping at my local scrapbook store. It is one of the two remaining in my area and I do not feel valued when I am there. They offer their own coupon on WED and every week new restrictions are added to what it can be used on. The last time that I was in the store, I was shopping a rack next to the door of the stores office. The owner of the store came over and gave me a dirty look and shut the door to her office. If she would like privacy, then perhaps she shouldn’t put a rack next to her office door. Since they are one of the few stores left, I will continue to shop it, but I miss the good old days when there was another local store not five miles down the road. Boy, a little competition is good for customer service.
Oh my! I agree with this so much I can’t even begin to describe how I feel! I just can’t believe how some of these employees treat the customers. And lately, it seems to be worse. Why do these employees not have any supervision or repercussions for their actions? They seem to get away with it and not get into any trouble. Are the employers/stores afraid they will lose employees and not find any others to hire? I don’t see how that can be possible. There is a job shortage. And as far as a scrapbook store (even a big chain store) is concerned, if they would like to get rid of the nasty mean employee, I would love to work there! If I was surrounded by crafty goodness all day I would treat the customers like gold! How could you not? It’s too bad and it makes shopping so frustrating that I don’t even want to do it.
And to Carmen above-I experience the very same thing at my grocery store! For heaven’s sake! Chit chat when there are no customers, don’t talk about your weekend when I am standing right there waiting for my groceries to be put into a bag! This is rude and makes the store look bad. In my opinion. I’ve been shopping at the same grocery store for 14 years and it’s getting to the point, I am ready to find someplace new. Now, that says it all, doesn’t it? It’s a sad situation.
Thanks for the article and sorry to rant on. But, this is a subject that I feel strongly about for sure!
Unfortunately, the economy is contributing to poor customer service far more than it is encouraging good customer service. I work in retail and I understand this firsthand. In January, roughly 30% of our employees were laid off. This DOES NOT mean there was 30% less work to do. Roughly the same number of shipments come in from all the various companies, they’re just smaller, but that doesn’t make a big difference in the time to check in shipments. There’s a lot more work to do for markdowns, because items aren’t selling as well as they used to. And you’re generally expected to do a lot more work than you used to, and you didn’t get a raise at all this year.
I’m not saying that businesses shouldn’t have good customer service. They should. But store owners and managers are often encouraging employees to not be helpful by the amount of work they expect them to have done in a given period of time. If the employee is not helping you because they are chatting with a fellow employee, obviously this is not the case and it is only the employee at fault. But if they are in the middle of unpacking a box full of product and don’t seem eager to spend 20 minutes telling you how to do your project, don’t be surprised. If they don’t finish, they’ll have to explain to their boss why, and helping customers, unfortunately, isn’t going to be a good enough answer.
It’s a shame but poor customer service just seems to be an extention of our society and it’s lack of manners in general. I was brought up to be polite (no matter how I am treated) and respectful. I make sure my children follow this golden rule too. Retailers need to expect this from their employees. I agree that with layoffs far fewer people are expected to do the same jobs and this does cause stress. But, as far as I am concerned, there is NEVER an excuse for poor manners.
Here’s a few of the issues: lack of work ethic (I’m owed a job & I’m here) and the inability to let people go (they could sue me).
Over the last few years, more people have become complacent in their jobs. Even though most states have right to work laws allowing employers to let people go without cause, they still fear doing it unless they have a real cause to fire someone. Poor customer service generally isn’t the reason they will. Although that and attitude should be the reason, usually they want something more concrete.
This certainly isn’t the economic environment people can be complacent. However, in other workplaces, in particular larger stores, unions cover the employees. Now you can’t let someone go without a really good reason. Unions will protect the good and the bad employee and keep them employed. Those situations also foster the “it’s not my job” attitude keeping employees into their little box of “what is in my job description.”
Sadly, in the current US economy, we can expect to see even more of this because people have come to expect that nothing is their fault, it’s always someone else’s fault and someone “owes me.” Go figure.
It sure would be nice to turn the clock back to good work ethics again. To the day when people would be grateful to have a job, any job, and grateful to be working because the alternative meant no food on the table.
Lately, it’s been my healthcare providers who are driving me crazy when it comes to customer service. If I am scheduled for a 3:00 appointment and have been told that this is the latest appointment available and thus have had to take time off of work to make this appointment and have received a mildly threatening phone call regarding being at this appointment on time and, above all, I am paying for this appointment, it is frustrating when I am not seen for this appointment until 4:00. This is not ok.
On the other hand, I have had some truly lovely customer service experiences. I ordered some of the new Studio Calico product line (Homefront–such a cool new line) and, when I received my order, noticed that one of my purchases was slightly short. No big deal but I contacted the company and suggested they contact their manufacturer to make sure that the error was just a fluke. Lorie Baker, of Studio Calico, contacted me the next day, thanked me for my input, sent me a replacement of the shorted product, and also sent an extra goodie. Best customer service I’ve experienced in years! Studio Calico has my loyalty for life. When you consider that this is a recession and survival depends on the good will of the consumer, you would think it would be in the best interest of any company to cultivate a positive relationship with its customers.